e medical director of the health department in Orange County has been put on administrative leave as state officials investigate whether he tried to compel employees to get vaccinated for COVID in violation of state law.
A state Department of Health spokesperson said Tuesday that the agency is working to determine whether Dr. Raul Pino broke any laws. A measure Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law last fall prohibits government agencies from implementing vaccine mandates.
Pino wrote an email to staff on Jan. 4 encouraging them to get vaccinated and boosted for COVID. In the email he wrote, “I have a hard time understanding how we can be in public health and not practice it.”
After sending the email, he was placed on administrative leave.
In an email to WMFE, the Department of Health confirmed Pino was put on leave because “the decision to get vaccinated is a personal choice that should be free from coercion and mandates from employers.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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